BASEBALL: Edwardsville falls to O’Fallon in 8

Panthers rally to end Tigers’ 2018 season

Edwardsville first baseman Drake Westcott makes a catch near the O’Fallon dugout in the first inning of Friday’s Class 4A Edwardsville Regional championship game at Tom Pile Field.

Edwardsville first baseman Drake Westcott makes a catch near the O’Fallon dugout in the first inning of Friday’s Class 4A Edwardsville Regional championship game at Tom Pile Field.

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Edwardsville first baseman Drake Westcott makes a catch near the O’Fallon dugout in the first inning of Friday’s Class 4A Edwardsville Regional championship game at Tom Pile Field.

Edwardsville first baseman Drake Westcott makes a catch near the O’Fallon dugout in the first inning of Friday’s Class 4A Edwardsville Regional championship game at Tom Pile Field.

BASEBALL: Edwardsville falls to O’Fallon in 8

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EDWARDSVILLE -- A tie-breaking run by the Edwardsville Tigers on their home field would usually trigger a celebration, but as the higher seed EHS had to survive the bottom of the eighth inning.

They didn’t.

O’Fallon’s Jake Holan blasted a solo home run and an RBI single by Josh Gibson lifted the Panthers to a 6-5 win over the Tigers in the championship game of the Class 4A Edwardsville Regional at Tom Pile Field.

“That was a battle. You never like losing. That was a heck of a game and one we would like to come out on top in,” EHS coach Tim Funkhouser said. “Both teams kept fighting and they got the prize at the end.”

Edwardsville ends its season at 26-10.

The third-seeded Tigers finished second at the state tournament last year.

“For our seniors to go out there and lay it on the line in their last game, that’s what you want,” Funkhouser said.

Top-seeded O’Fallon improves to 33-3-1 with wins in its last six games.

The Panthers, who lost to the Tigers in last year’s sectional semifinals, will face the winner of the Belleville East Regional between second-seeded Belleville East and fourth-seeded Collinsville on Wednesday.

It took a two-run rally in the eighth for the Panthers to advance and secure their fourth straight regional championship.

“I was feeling for the guys when they were struggling,” O’Fallon coach Jason Portz said about Edwardsville taking a lead in the eighth. “These guys have battled all year long.”

Edwardsville was able to force extra innings when Cole Hampton fielded a grounder from Hayden Juenger at third to start an inning-ending double play with runners at the corners and the game tied 4-4.

“That was one of those plays we’ve talked about in practice all the time. It might not happen for two or three years, and we just refreshed it,” Funkhouser said. “It had to be crisp. That’s why you practice it each day. That was one of the best defensive plays I’ve seen in the postseason.”

In the top of the eighth, Drake Westcott, who hit a two-run homer in the third, was intentionally walked to start the inning. Reid Hendrickson singled and Jack Cooper walked to load the bases.

Dalton Wallace saw five pitches and walked to give EHS a 5-4 lead.

The Tigers couldn’t tack on anymore.

Juenger, who pitched the first four innings, re-entered on the mound and got a pop up before Holan made a diving catch in left to save at least one run. A grounder to short ended the threat.

“We would have liked to bury some more runs there and put them behind the eight-ball. We didn’t do it,” Funkhouser said.

With one out, Holan made the Tigers pay.

A .235 hitter with four extra-base hits in 50 at-bats, Holan launched a solo home run to left on a 3-1 pitch to tie it 5-5.

“I’ve been trying to tell these guys that the postseason is about unknown heroes. Jake Holan is an unknown hero. He’s a guy that has done nothing but bleed Panther baseball his entire career,” Portz said. “You talk about an MVP, what a player today.”

Nick Boone walked and Jeremy Reno was hit by a pitch to set the stage for Gibson.

Gibson lined the first pitch he saw into left to win it 6-5 for the Panthers.

“That was the best baseball game I’ve ever been involved in,” Portz said. “(Tom Pile) is my mentor. For my kids, this is how Moto’s teams played. Moto was here today. They play with heart. I can’t say enough about it.”

Portz was a former assistant coach under Pile at Edwardsville before leaving for O’Fallon.

It was a sour ending for the Tigers, who jumped ahead 4-1 with two-run home runs from Cooper in the first and Westcott in the third. Both homers were off Juenger, who allowed just five earned runs in the regular season.

It was the fourth homer for Cooper, who ended the season on a 10-game hitting streak.

Westcott, who was intentionally walked twice, ends the season with seven homers and 34 RBIs to lead the Tigers.

O’Fallon cut the lead to 4-3 on RBI singles by Quinn Lowery in the third and Reno in the fourth.

In the sixth, an errant pickoff throw set up a sacrifice fly from Boone to tie it 4-4.

Chase Gockel started for EHS and allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts and two walks. He threw 100 pitches.

“He was awesome. He just got better each time out. We expected him to do really good things and he didn’t disappoint,” Funkhouser said of Gockel, who threw 40 pitches in Wednesday’s postseason opener.

Matt Boyer pitched the final two innings for Edwardsville.

Juenger earned the win, pitching a total of five innings and allowing four runs on five hits with five strikeouts and a walk.